While all SAVEUR Suppers are fun, booze-filled nights, this one was particularly joyous, as we celebrated Largey's new position as chef-in-residence at Intro Chicago, Lettuce Entertain You's award-winning rotating chef restaurant, where she'll be cooking vegetable-driven dishes from February through May 2016. With Stolichnaya cocktails in épare glasses and Brewer-Clifton wine in hand, we toasted Largey and feasted on four dishes and a dessert—with lots of purées.

We started with the sunflower, which Largey made by simmering raw sunflower seeds in milk until they softened enough to be pureed with a quick squeeze of lemon.The result: a rich, slightly nutty, deceivingly creamy paste that had the texture of hummus and held together shreds of Brussels sprouts, dates, and apples just enough to keep them from falling apart on your fork. And then the purées kept coming—in the form of a milky cauliflower sauce that cozied under whole-roasted romanesco broccoli; a thicker golden chestnut paste that sat below seared lamb; and then as a looser vanilla-tinged celeriac sauce that countered rich dulce de leche, hazelnut cake, and stewed huckleberries for dessert.

We laughed, we feasted, and we drank. That was expected. But falling in love with purées as much as we did—we never could've expected that. For more scenes from the dinner, check out the gallery below.